Thursday, September 29, 2011

Fundraising!

I am a fundraising machine! Haha.. or so I feel like...

My support letters are being mailed this weekend and I'm so excited as people begin to learn about my trip and how to sponsor HCO, the kids and myself.

I am feeling so incredibly blessed as I learn of all my Prayer Warriors that are out there praying for me on a daily basis! Thank you all so much for your feedback and continued support. It is forever encouraging that I have people that bring my trip and life to the throne of God.

And it looks like I have a few financial supporters as well! Thanks to you all as well, I am humbled by your generosity.

As for myself, I'm finally ready to begin fundraising from church to church, I think.. (fingers-crossed!)
Big thanks to Robby Myers for creating my prayer cards! They look so great and professional and I know you all are loving them!


On a random note, if you have time, come on out to my Shop and Support Rummage Sale next weekend Oct. 7th and 8th! Everything is $1 and donations are accepted of course, all proceeds will be going to my trip and time at HCO.

So moving forward, I have quite a bit to accomplish and get done, but I know the Lord is there with me, watching over me and directing me into the path He has planned. Please keep me in your prayers.

Prayer, Prayer, Prayer!

Hello friends!

I am so excited to be writing this post! I have quite a bit of more information on the orphanage that I would like to share with you and some prayer requests as well.

First off a prayer request: Cassie Nash who is our go-to girl (head staffer) at HCO is in Haiti as of Tuesday. She will be spending some time with Pastor Sampson (a Haitian contact for PPM and one of the kindest souls you will ever meet) as she learns the language and does operations there at HCO. Please be in prayer for her as she is doing a lot of behind the scenes work and spending quite a bit of time there with Pastor Sampson learning Haitian Creole.

I am excited to continue learning the language myself from http://www.byki.com. It seems tough to speak and I will be looking in our area for a Haitian Creole speaking individual to possibly tutor me. I've heard through the rumour mill there might be a Haitian family right here in Batesville! How wonderful it would be to actually imerse myself in the culture a little before getting to Haiti!

The orphanage consists of around 40 boys ages 7-16. The boys are mostly street kids, orphaned by death of parents or just simply left at the orphanage. Be in prayer for these beautiful souls to be open to us in as many ways as possible as we begin making changes at the orphanage. Also, the older boys are beginning school this week and are in need of your prayers!

I am leaning on the Lord to bring in the financial and prayerful support that I will be needing. I know this is His will for me, so I don't doubt His faithfulness in these areas.

If you are willing to commit to being a prayer warrior for me during these next 7 months, please email me and let me know. bethany.n.richardson@gmail.com I intend to keep this list of names with me on my trip as encouragement. Thank you so much!

Please continue keeping Eric and the other HCO staffers in your prayers, as well as the boys and other Haitians at the orphanage. Thank you all for your support!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Balancing Act

Since no ducks were harmed in this video, I thought I would share a little bit on life lately. (How funny is it btw?)

I feel it is an accurate representation of how I've been feeling! As of late it seems as though just as I feel like maybe I have all my ducks in somewhat of a row, a wind comes along and ruins everything.

As I sit here and stare at the three very long, time consuming and vastly different to-do lists, I'm feeling overwhelmed. In life, I am typically the do-er. I am a free-spirit at times, but when I have things to do I like to conquer them quick and efficiently. This, as you can imagine, often gets me into trouble.... especially in times like right now when I have so many things to do.

The point of this post however, isn't to ramble and complain (although it very easily could be! haha) You see, it is in the midst of this chaos that I can hear God's voice calling out to me to "be still..." After taking a few deep breaths and listening to His voice, peace has flooded me and my mind is finally calm.

Its then I realize that the wind was indeed a blessing, messing up my perfectionist ways... allowing me to be knocked off balance, and leaving me reaching out for Him to help me find solid ground again.. I know that He is looking out for me, waiting for me to bring everything to His feet, not just the times that I feel overwhelmed. Why is it that I still cling to doing things on my own? He clearly knows what is best for us...

If only I would remember, God controls the wind as well.


Thursday, September 15, 2011

Step Number 3 Complete!

As I sat down to begin thinking about a to-do list for my upcoming adventure to Haiti (yes, I'm one of those crazy list-makers), step #3 was get a blog going. Now, if you know me you will understand my nervousness in creating such a public representation of me! As my perfectionist side of me kept rearing its ugly head... I finally just had to stop putting so much thought into this and just let it be. So here we are... blog number 3,424,367 is up and running. At least maybe this time I'll have a better reason to stick with it. Ha!

This blog will be all things Haiti Christian Orphanage... the Bethany edition. From preparation for the trip, my updating while I'm there and everything in between. Keep up with me if you would like and if not.. that's cool too. :)


May God bless and keep you.
Psalms 95:2-3